Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed

In a dark and messy room, the giant dwarf, Drake, gritted his teeth.

“Dammit… those scavenger vagabonds.”

His cold curse got swallowed down before it could even escape his chest.

It was a problem that he had rushed in without any preparation after hearing that his girlfriend, Lorenda, had been taken by scavengers.

His heart was racing too fast.

Ultimately, Drake ended up caught by the scavengers himself and was trapped in the dark room.

The good news was that the security was sloppy.

The handcuffs holding his wrists were long gone. With no additional defenses, he could hack the locked door if he had enough time.

But the bad news was that Drake’s time was running out.

“This is going to be late… Please, please!”

Should he have equipped his combat gear?

But then it would have taken even longer. It was hard to find hidden scavengers while tailing them.

The thick steel door blocking his way showed no sign of opening.

Then, from outside the door, he heard someone’s voice.

[Is anyone inside? If you’re not a scavenger, please step away from the door within 5 seconds.]

A normal man’s voice that didn’t fit with a scavenger’s den.

The voice began slowly counting down the 5 seconds.

Drake did not move away from the door.
If the person opening the door turned out to be a scavenger, he couldn’t let that chance slip.

But then came the words that forced Drake to step back from the door.

[Then, it will explode─.]

Explode? What?

Drake’s thoughts were briefly interrupted.

A small circle of flames appeared on the steel door.

Drake didn’t know what it was, but his instincts told him it was something that defied the laws of physics he knew.

Moments later.
– KWA-BOOM!!

The door shattered and flew away.
With a huge sound, dust mixed with debris spread out from outside the door.
Drake saw three shadows through the smoke.

The weary-looking man in the middle spoke.

“You’re not a scavenger, it seems. Just another person who got caught?”

His face was fully covered by a mask, so Drake couldn’t see the man’s expression.
But the dark circles under his eyes suggested he was exhausted.

“Are you a mercenary who came to rescue us? Were there captured people? Was there a brown-haired woman among them?!”

“Ah.”

As Drake’s words shot out like bullets, the man, Lee Siwoon, raised both hands in a calming gesture.

“Don’t worry. We’re on our way to rescue everyone. And excuse me, but… you must be Drake, right?”

“…I am.”

“Lorenda told me to come rescue you. I heard you got caught while trying to save her.”

What a relief.
Hearing Siwoon’s words, Drake let out a heavy sigh of relief.

His thick legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.
At that moment, the women behind him, Catherine and Andrea, asked Siwoon their burning questions.

“Hey, seriously. How did you find out there was a hostage hidden here?”

“Right, we almost passed it by without knowing!”

Siwoon shrugged nonchalantly.
“It’s intuition, intuition. We rescued you, so it’s all good, right?”

Meanwhile, he thought to himself,
The reason was simple; he had played the game that this world was based on, so he kinda knew the flow of the quests.

“Originally, Drake’s girlfriend would start the quest already dead… I’m glad I arrived just in time.”

It was worth the rush.
Siwoon nodded to himself.

“Haha, that’s a relief…”

Drake had envisioned the worst scenarios.
Things had worked out, and that was good.

Sitting on the ground, Drake rubbed his eyelids with one hand.
After a brief moment of silence, Catherine, who couldn’t read the atmosphere, opened her mouth.

“Hey, but don’t we need someone who can hack soon? We’ve almost been in big trouble here several times.”

“…Heroes don’t learn hacking.”

“Me neither, I’ll just look into No Answer later.”

Siwoon and Andrea both responded.
They all had a point.
It was too late to study hacking now. Specialized knowledge and a brilliant mind were needed.

Knowing they needed a hacker, it was sensible to recruit one after this incident.
Hearing their conversation, Drake slowly lifted his head.

“…Do any of you need a buddy who’s good at hacking and skilled?”

An awkward silence.
Catherine broke the silence and replied cautiously.

“…Well, we need one, but if someone is stuck here, they must be a bit—.”

“No, we need one!”

“Huh?”

It was Siwoon who interrupted.
‘Why did I break into that scavenger nest to save Drake and his girlfriend?’

He couldn’t let a good opportunity slip.
Siwoon kept persuading the other two.

“Just trust me once. I have a good feeling about this.”

“…Well, if you say so, the results haven’t been bad so far.”

“If Siwoon says so, I’m okay with it too.”

After their brief conversation, Siwoon walked toward the still-sitting Drake.
Thanks to Drake’s giant stature, even while sitting, Siwoon’s gaze reached his chest.

“My name is Lee Siwoon. Nice to meet you, Drake.”

“Just call me Drake… Lee Shun? Shun? Uhm… that doesn’t sound right.”

“People tend to mess it up on their first time. Feel free to call me however you like.”

“No, I can’t mispronounce the name of my and my girlfriend’s benefactor. Nice to meet you… Siwoon.”

That was the first meeting between Siwoon and Drake.

*

“Alright! Now that it’s done, get up.”

“…….”

Me?

Am I still alive?

[Ending classical music.]

…..

It seems like I was dead.
From the extremities of my nerves to every joint of my whole body, there was no part that didn’t hurt.
I wobbled on my legs like a newborn goat.

“The surgery went well. The nano-ampule seems to have worked correctly, and there shouldn’t be any problems.”

Drake, who usually had a big smile, grinned even wider.
I moved my head to check my body.
My arms and legs.

Both had undergone implant surgery, but there didn’t seem to be any visible changes.

“Hey, did you even do it right? Why doesn’t anything look different? Was it just painful for nothing?”

“That’s because it only expands when you apply force. It won’t look much different. Even if it looks that way, you could easily lift a passing orc.”

Oh.
Hearing that, it actually felt pretty good.
Of course, my fundamental issue of ‘stamina’ remained unchanged.

“What use is lifting an orc if I can’t even take a few steps without getting tired and falling over?”

“…Hmm, unfortunately, I don’t have the cyberware heart or lungs right now. Give me some time, and I’ll try to find something for you.”

“…No thank you, doc.”

Please, just endure.
Living like this for the rest of my life would be much more comfortable.

At that moment, a message notification popped up in my eye interface. It was from Catherine.

From: ‘Neon City, Best Freelancer’
– Hey.
– Did you get the check-up from Drake?
– If you’re done, reply back.

There was no need to reply later.
I sent a message to Catherine saying I’d be back soon.

“Ah.”

I had a question pop into my mind and asked Drake.
“Since you set aside time for my check-up, wouldn’t it have been better if Catherine had come today to get checked up together? Why split it up and do it tomorrow?”

Earlier, Drake had said.
Andrea had come in the past and had already left, while Catherine was scheduled to come in tomorrow.

Drake answered my question.
“Tsk tsk, you don’t understand women.”

[…….]

What?
“Do you think Catherine would want to show you her scars or the implant borders after all her hard work to keep her skin clear? …And to me, it seems like she’s not the only one.”

“I’ve been with her for several years, so it’s alright to see it.”

“Hahaha, people’s hearts are all different.”

I didn’t really buy that reason.
I just thought, whatever.
I moved to the waiting room, leaving Drake who was laughing helplessly.

But at the front of the waiting room stood someone I never expected to see.
An orc without a mom, the gatekeeper of No Answer.
It was Smith.

Standing with his arms crossed, his posture was just like when he was guarding No Answer.
He didn’t come here after hearing about the orc being able to carry?

“Smith, what brings you here? Here for a check-up? Come on in.”

“Haha, no. Hello, Shun.”

“Then what brings you here… Oh.”
Suddenly, I remembered there was another reason Smith might come here.

“The boss asked me to check if the gift arrived.”

Seeing Smith arrive, Drake stepped out behind me.
“I told you I would send a message to let you know.”

“But he insisted on coming to check it himself.”

The tragedy of having to obey your superior.

Did he catch the pity in my gaze? Smith continued speaking without changing his firm posture.
“It’s fine. By the way, my hometown of Redwood is nearby, so it’d be nice to drop by while I’m here.”

“Oh, you’re from Redwood?”

It was the only green space in Neon City.
If you wanted to see trees, going to Redwood was the quickest way.
Of course, since Cloud Park was right next to it, the air quality remained the same, but still.

“You don’t seem to, right? I hear that a lot.”

He didn’t say it out loud.
But it wasn’t wrong.
Orcs considered slums were all violent.
Still, he was quite different from the typical orcs.

Unlike the sight of orcs proudly showing off their tusks with LEDs, Smith had filed down his tusks to hide them.

“Though my brothers don’t particularly like me coming around, we should at least see each other’s faces while I’m here.”

“You’re having a hard time, Smith.”

“What? Am I supposed to work as hard as Shun?”

If you hit me with facts like that, I wouldn’t have anything to say.

“And one more thing.”
Smith leaned closer to me.
His green skin was quite intimidating.

“Please, absolutely. The boss asked me to ask you to stop by.”

“…Why?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Neon City, the top of all intermediaries.
The unidentified boss of No Answer.
Honestly, that person gives me the creeps. But I couldn’t say that out loud.

“…Since I received a gift, I’ll surely drop by later.”

“Then I’ll tell the boss that you expressed your intention to visit. When will it be possible for you to come?”

Well,
I didn’t know.
I didn’t want to know.

“…I’ve been busy with a lot going on lately. I’ll try to come when things calm down a bit.”

“…Hmm, got it. Since you’re probably feeling tired from residual pain after the implant, I’ve kept you long enough.”

“What? No, it’s fine. Have a nice trip back home.”

At that moment, Drake, who had been quiet, spoke to Smith in a very friendly voice.
“While you’re here, why not get some cyberware scaling too? I can do it really well.”

“…Haha, I’m fine. I got it done once recently.”

That was a reasonable answer.
If he’d been waiting in the waiting room this whole time, he surely would have heard my cries of agony.
Drake licked his lips, feeling disappointed.
But since he said he got it done recently, there wasn’t much he could do.

I waved off Smith, who was about to leave.

“Alright then.
I should be heading out too.”

“Yeah, keep in touch. We should see each other more often. If not, I’ll come pick you up at your place.”

“…That’s a bit much.”

I couldn’t promise that.
Unless it was like last time when I rode in Drake’s car, taking public transport just felt too bothersome.

“Hey, since we’re talking about it, can you give me a ride? Let’s make it convenient on the way back.”

“…Hmm. Should I? I don’t have any reservations anymore anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

Drake nodded to my request.
Great.

I could go back comfortably after all.
I settled into the plush car seat.

True to Drake’s love for the latest technology like hacking and cyberware, his car was filled with all kinds of advanced equipment.
I gazed out the window at the scenery outside.
Aside from the smoke of the factory zones covering the sky, it was really a nice and clear day.

Drake, who had the steering wheel in his hands, spoke to me.
“Hey, now that we’re out, how about going for a drink?”

“…Where are we going?”

“There’s a nice bar that opened up near home. It’s been a while since we saw each other, so let’s reminisce about old times.”

“…Hmm, should we? It does make me nostalgic seeing your face after a long time.”

“Great! Let’s go right away!”

Even though I love being at home,
going out for a bit when I’ve finally come out isn’t such a bad idea.
I laid my head back on the seat next to the excited Drake driving away.

As I relaxed with my eyes closed, Eve asked me.
[……Are you really okay entering later? I’m just asking.]

“What’s the big deal about just hanging out?”

*

…..

There was a big deal.

“……So that’s why I was late, sister.”

“……”

I had forgotten I said I would go home soon.

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